oppn parties How Did UP Government Know Mishra Will Not Tamper With Witnesses?

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
How Did UP Government Know Mishra Will Not Tamper With Witnesses?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-04-05 06:06:56

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

The Supreme Court took a dim view of the manner in which the Allahabad High Court dealt with the bail application of Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident where a convoy of cars ran over farmers. Mishra is the son of Union minister of state for Home affairs Ajay Mishra Teni. It has reserved its judgment in the plea for cancelling his bail.

The UP government argued in court that Ashish Mishra is "not a flight risk" and is unlikely to "tamper with witnesses". But the Supreme Court did not accept the state's contention and said that it should have followed the SIT advice which had recommended for opposing his bail plea on the grounds that he could tamper with witnesses.

It is strange that the UP government did not act upon the advice of the SIT, comprising of senior police officers, to strongly oppose Mishra’s bail plea. How was it so sure that once out, Mishra would not threaten witnesses? It is also regrettable that Allahabad HC granted him bail by going into the merits of the case which the Supreme Court said was "unnecessary for considering a bail plea".  Mishra may not run away but if he out on bail, there is every chance that he will threaten and browbeat witnesses.

The UP government should have considered Mishra's immense clout in the area as his father is an MP and a junior Union minister. If granted bail, his mere presence in the area would have scared witnesses from coming forward. It argued that each of the 98 witnesses had been granted police protection. But India has seen witnesses disappear and turn hostile even if they are under police protection once the accused is granted bail.

The Lakhimpur Kheri incident was a result of the sense of entitlement which families of MPs, MLAs and ministers appropriate for themselves. They are not scared of anyone and know that they will get out of any situation, however damning, due to the clout of their family. This needs to be changed and Ashish Mishra's bail must be cancelled as a first step and he must be punished as per law for his beastly act. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.